No Teacher Raises, Kimbrough Insists

October 17, 1991|By David C. Rudd, Education writer.

A day after the Chicago Teachers Union voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if the school board fails to come up with a satisfactory pay increase, schools Supt. Ted Kimbrough insisted that any kind of pay raise was out of the question.

But with a strike still at least a month away, it was unclear whether Kimbrough was simply striking a tough pose to put pressure on state legislators to let him fund pay raises with money now reserved for other uses. Legislators refused to allow Kimbrough to use some $20 million in state Chapter 1 funds allocated for local school council budgets. But reallocation of the funds could be considered again at the General Assembly`s fall veto session next week.

If Kimbrough finally gained access to the money, he would be in a position to offer teachers some sort of raise, although much less than the 7 percent they were scheduled to receive this year.

Ald. Patrick O`Connor (40th), chairman of the Chicago City Council`s Education Committee, believes CTU President Jacqueline Vaughn would be able to keep teachers on the job if Kimbrough offered ``something that is palatable.`` Some people close to the negotiations say a raise of about 4 percent, or equal to the annual increase in the cost of living, could satisfy teachers.

The $20 million in question would not by itself completely fund a cost-of-living increase, but having access to that money would make it much easier for Kimbrough to craft an acceptable raise.

In addition to the Chapter 1 funds, Kimbrough said, he will also seek legislative approval to shift some $10 million now reserved for playground and textbook expenditures.

Local school council members and school reform advocates will fiercely oppose shifting control of the Chapter 1 funds.

And most everyone, from Mayor Richard Daley to the teachers union, still believes the school board can find enough money to pay teachers more simply by making additional budget cuts.

Nevertheless, tough talk and posturing by Kimbrough and Vaughn is likely to continue at least until after the veto session ends Nov. 8, and even until Nov. 13, when the union can terminate the three-year contract it signed last year.

That action would deny the school board access to what remains of $50 million in CTU pension funds set aside to fund the budget. That loss would further strain the board`s financial situation.

``It`s going to take the legislature, it`s going to take City Hall, it`s going to take this governing board, it`s going to take the unions to come to the realization, if there is no money, how do we generate those dollars in order to address the problem that`s before us?`` Kimbrough said Wednesday.

``We`re going to continue to negotiate,`` he added, ``but we have to have something to negotiate about. That means more resources. Without those resources, I think you ought to be aware the labor action will compound the problem, not cure it.``

The school board was given access to the pension money in order to pay teachers` salaries, school board and union officials agree. Some $50 million is to be transferred in each of the three years of the contract. It is being spent on a pro-rata basis.

Kimbrough said he will propose at Thursday`s negotiating session that teachers waive any pay raise this year and accept a guaranteed 7 percent hike next year. This proposal is similar to a deal the school board has already tentatively struck with 9,500 employees in non-teaching unions.

Though most employees represented by the Coalition of Chicago Board of Education Unions will receive no raises this year, their jobs can`t be cut through next year under the agreement.

School officials hope the money to pay the guaranteed raise next year will come from long-range budget trims and an additional county tax collection next year, Kimbrough said.

But union officials publicly rejected such hopes. And union officials have said the union doesn`t plan to be Kimbrough`s partner as he tries to get access to the Chapter 1 funds.

``This is their problem,`` said union spokeswoman Jackie Gallagher.

``They`ve got to come up with something.``

The local school councils use Chapter 1 funds to pay for teachers, books, equipment and supplies. The union, Gov. Jim Edgar and state legislators oppose shifting those funds, saying the money helps the district`s poorest children.

State Sen. Arthur Berman (D-Chicago), chairman of the Senate committee on elementary and secondary education, said the school board is unlikely to gain access to the Chapter 1 funds.

Berman also said the school board can make enough budget cuts to raise teachers` pay. But he added that teachers must be willing to accept a raise substantially less than 7 percent.

``I definitely think the union would be doing a great service to the students and to Chicago if they compromised at some figure substantially less than 7 percent,`` Berman said. ``We`re talking about tough times.``